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+ <title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 535.</title>
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11539 ***</div>
+
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h1>THE MIRROR<br />
+ OF<br />
+ LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <table width="100%"
+ summary="Volume, Number, and Date">
+ <tbody>
+ <tr>
+ <td align="left"><b>VOL. XIX. NO. 535.]</b></td>
+
+ <td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25,
+ 1832.</b></td>
+
+ <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td>
+ </tr>
+ </tbody>
+ </table>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENT'S PARK.</h2>
+
+ <div class="figcenter"
+ style="WIDTH: 100%">
+ <a href="images/535-1.png"><img alt="The Polar Bear"
+ src="images/535-1.png"
+ width="100%" /></a>
+
+ <h3>THE POLAR BEAR.</h3>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="figcenter"
+ style="WIDTH: 100%">
+ <a href="images/535-2.png"><img alt="The Tunnel"
+ src="images/535-2.png"
+ width="100%" /></a>
+
+ <h3>THE TUNNEL.</h3>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="figcenter"
+ style="WIDTH: 100%">
+ <a href="images/535-3.png"><img alt="Monkey Cage"
+ src="images/535-3.png"
+ width="100%" /></a>
+
+ <h3>MONKEY CAGE.</h3>
+ </div>
+ <hr class="full" />
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page114"
+ name="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span>
+
+ <h2>GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.</h2>
+
+ <h3>REGENT'S PARK.</h3>
+
+ <p>A visit to these Gardens is one of the most delightful of
+ the rational recreations of the metropolis. The walk out is
+ pleasant enough: though there is little rural beauty on the
+ road, the creations of art assume a more agreeable appearance
+ than in the city itself; and, with cottages, park-like grounds,
+ and flourishing wood, the eye may enjoy a few picturesque
+ groupings.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Garden</i> of the Society is one of the prettiest in
+ the vicinity of the metropolis; the <i>Menagerie</i> is
+ certainly the most important ever collected in this country. It
+ is a charming sight to behold myriads of tiny flowers fringing
+ our very paths, and little groves of shrubs and young trees
+ around us; yet it is a gratification of the highest order, to
+ witness the animals of almost every country on the earth
+ assembled within a few acres; and it is indeed a sublime study
+ to observe how beautifully the links in the great chain of
+ nature are wrought, and how admirably are the habits and
+ structure of some of these animals adapted to the wants of man,
+ while all are subservient to some great purpose in the scale of
+ creation. How clearly are these truths taught by the science of
+ Zoology; and how attractively are they illustrated in the
+ Menagerie of the Zoological Gardens. Consider but for a moment
+ that the cat which crouches by our fireside is of the same
+ tribe with "the lordly lion," whose roar is terrific as an
+ earthquake, and the tiger who often stays but to suck the blood
+ of his victims: that the faithful dog, "who knows us
+ personally, watches for us, and warns us of danger," is but a
+ descendant from the wolf, who prowls through the wintry waste
+ with almost untameable ferocity. Yet how do we arrive at the
+ knowledge of these interesting facts&mdash;but by zoological
+ study.</p>
+
+ <p>Two of the Cuts in the annexed page will furnish our country
+ friends with the improved plan of keeping the animals in large
+ open cages. The first represents that of the <i>Polar Bear</i>,
+ of strong iron-work, with a dormitory adjoining. The enclosed
+ area is flagged with stone, and in the centre is a tank, or
+ pool, of water, in which the bear makes occasional plungings.
+ The present occupant is but small in comparison with the usual
+ size of the species. "Its favourite postures," observes Mr.
+ Bennett, "are lying flat at its whole length; sitting upon its
+ haunches with its fore legs perfectly upright, and its head in
+ a dependent position; or standing upon all fours with its
+ fore-paws widely extended and its head and neck swinging
+ alternately from side to side, or upwards and downwards in one
+ continued and equable libration."<a id="footnotetag1"
+ name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p>
+
+ <p>The second Cut represents the tunnelled communication
+ between the two Gardens, beneath the carriage-road of the Park.
+ Above, the archway is a pediment, supported by two neat
+ columns, and a terraced walk, with balustrades. The whole is
+ handsomely executed in cement or imitative stone. The
+ decorative vases are by Austin, of the New Road. A lion's head,
+ in bold relief, forms an appropriate key-stone embellishment to
+ the arch. The sloping banks are formed of mimic rock-work
+ profusely intermingled with plants and flowers.</p>
+
+ <p>The third Cut is the Monkey House, of substantial iron-work,
+ with dormitories and winter apartments in the rear. In fine
+ sunny weather the monkeys may be here seen disporting their
+ recreant limbs to the delight of crowds of visiters. Their
+ species are too numerous but for a catalogue. Among them are
+ the Negro and Sooty Monkeys,&mdash;the Mone Monkey: "the name
+ of <i>Monkey</i> is supposed to be derived from the African
+ appellation of this species, <i>Mone</i> corrupted into
+ <i>Monachus</i>." Bonneted, pig-tailed, and Capuchin Monkeys;
+ the last named from their dark crowns, like the capuch or hood
+ of a Capuchin friar; and black and white-fronted Spider
+ Monkeys, named from their great resemblance to large
+ spiders.</p>
+
+ <p>By the way, there is an abundance of still life in the
+ Gardens at this ungenial season. We find the Elephant, the
+ Antelopes, and the Zebra, in their winter quarters, and their
+ mightinesses, the large cats, as the lions, tiger, and
+ leopards, accommodated with a snug fire. The tropical birds, as
+ the parrots, maccaws, &amp;c., have been removed from the
+ extremity of the north garden to warmer quarters; and the
+ hyaenas, leopards, and a host of smaller carnivorous quadrupeds
+ have taken their places. The upper end is occupied by four
+ roomy dens, with a lordly black-maned lion and a lioness, from
+ Northern Africa; above them are a fine lioness and a leopard
+ from Ceylon: these we take to have been among the recent
+ arrivals from the Tower Menagerie.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page115"
+ name="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span>
+
+ <h2>FRAGMENTS ON HUMAN LIFE.</h2>
+
+ <h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"Call not earth a barren spot,</p>
+
+ <p>Pass it not ungrateful by,</p>
+
+ <p>'Tis to man a lovely lot."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>There is no subject on which such a variety of opinions
+ exist, as on the question "Whether man is happy;" and that it
+ is not easy to be settled, is certain. Many persons have been
+ so far contented with their lot as to wish to have their life
+ over again, and yet as many have expressed themselves to the
+ contrary.</p>
+
+ <p>Dr. Johnson, who always spoke of human life in the most
+ desponding terms, and considered earth a vale of tears,</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"Yet hope, not life from pain or sorrow free,</p>
+
+ <p>Or think the doom of man reversed for
+ thee&mdash;"</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>declared that he would not live over again a single week of
+ his life, had it been allowed him.<a id="footnotetag2"
+ name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> Such was his opinion on the past; but so great
+ is the cheering influence with which Hope irradiates the mind,
+ that in looking forward to the future, he always talked with
+ pleasure on the prospect of a long life.</p>
+
+ <p>When he was in Scotland, Boswell told him that after his
+ death, he intended to erect a memorial to him. Johnson, to whom
+ the very mention of death was unpleasant, replied, "Sir, I hope
+ to see your grand-children." On his death-bed he observed to
+ the surgeon who was attending him, "<i>I want life</i>, you are
+ afraid of giving me pain."</p>
+
+ <p>It has been supposed that this question had been settled by
+ the authority of Scripture. "Man is born to trouble," says Job,
+ "as the sparks fly upward." In turning over a few pages more,
+ we find ourselves in doubt again. "<i>The latter end of Job was
+ more blessed than his beginning</i>; for he had 14,000 sheep,
+ and 6,000 camels, and 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 she-asses.
+ He had also seven sons and three daughters. So Job died being
+ old and full of days."</p>
+
+ <p>It may not be unpleasant to place before the reader the
+ opinions of several celebrated men, on Life, that he may choose
+ his side, and either like the bee or the spider, extract the
+ poison or gather the honey. We will begin with Sterne, one who
+ well knew the human heart.</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p>"What is the life of man? is it not to shift from side
+ to side! from sorrow to sorrow!"</p>
+
+ <p>"When I consider how oft we eat the bread of affliction,
+ when one runs over the catalogue of all the cross
+ reckonings and sorrowful items with which the heart of man
+ is overcharged, 'tis wonderful by what hidden resources the
+ mind is enabled to stand it out, and bear itself up, as it
+ does, against the impositions laid upon our
+ nature."&mdash;<i>T. Shandy</i>.</p>
+
+ <p>"A man has but a bad bargain of it at the
+ best."&mdash;<i>Chesterfield</i>.</p>
+
+ <p>"No scene of human life but teems with mortal
+ woe."&mdash;<i>Sir Walter Scott</i>.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>In opposition to these sentiments, Franklin, in writing on
+ the death of a friend, gives us his opinion, "<i>It is a party
+ of pleasure</i>, some take their seats first."</p>
+
+ <p>And Lord Byron, describing Sunrise, in the second canto of
+ <i>Lara</i>, says</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"But mighty nature bounds as from her birth,</p>
+
+ <p>The sun is in the heavens, and life on earth;</p>
+
+ <p>Flowers in the valley, splendour in the beam.</p>
+
+ <p>Health on the gale, and freshness in the stream.</p>
+
+ <p>Immortal Man! Behold her glories shine,</p>
+
+ <p>And cry exultingly, 'They are thine'</p>
+
+ <p>Gaze on, while yet thy gladdened eyes may see,</p>
+
+ <p>A morrow comes when they are not for thee."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>In the same spirit Cowper begins his poem on Hope:</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"See Nature gay as when she first began,</p>
+
+ <p>With smiles alluring her admirer, man,</p>
+
+ <p>She spreads the morning over eastern hills.</p>
+
+ <p>Earth glitters with the drops the night distils.</p>
+
+ <p>The sun obedient at her call appears</p>
+
+ <p>To fling his glories o'er the robe she wears,</p>
+
+ <p class="i4">... to proclaim</p>
+
+ <p>His happiness, her dear, her only aim."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>"The Thracians," says Cicero, "wept when a child was born,
+ and feasted and made merry when a man went out of the world,
+ and with reason. Show me the man who knows what life is, and
+ dreads death, and I'll show thee a prisoner who dreads his
+ liberty."</p>
+
+ <p>Of the misery of human life, Gray speaks in similar
+ terms:</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"To all their sufferings all are men,</p>
+
+ <p>Condemn'd alike to groan,</p>
+
+ <p>The feeling for another's pain,</p>
+
+ <p>The unfeeling for his own."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>Audi alteram partem:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p>"It's a happy world after all."&mdash;<i>Paley</i>.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>And Gray himself:</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">This careful, anxious being e'er
+ resigned,</p>
+
+ <p>E'er left the precincts of the <i>cheerful
+ day</i></p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Nor cast one longing, lingering look
+ behind."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>And another popular author:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p>"A world of pleasure is continually streaming in on
+ every side. It only depends on man to be a demi-god, and to
+ convert this world into Elysium."&mdash;<i>Gaieties and
+ Gravities</i>.</p>
+ </blockquote><span class="pagenum"><a id="page116"
+ name="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span>
+
+ <p>It is doubtless wise to incline to the latter sentiment.</p>
+
+ <p>Of the instability of human happiness and glory, a fine
+ picture is drawn by Appian, who represents Scipio weeping over
+ the destruction of Carthage. "When he saw this famous city,
+ which had flourished seven hundred years, and might have been
+ compared to the greatest empires, on account of the extent of
+ its dominions, both by sea and land, its mighty armies, its
+ fleets, elephants and riches; and that the Carthaginians were
+ even superior to other nations, by their courage and greatness
+ of soul, as, notwithstanding their being deprived of arms and
+ ships, they had sustained for three whole years, all the
+ hardships and calamities of a long siege; seeing, I say, this
+ city entirely ruined, historians relate that he could not
+ refuse his tears to the unhappy fate of Carthage. He reflected
+ that cities, nations, and empires are liable to revolutions, no
+ less than particular men; that the like sad fate had befallen
+ Troy, once so powerful; and in later times, the Assyrians,
+ Medes, and Persians, whose dominions were once of so great an
+ extent; and lastly, the Macedonians, whose empire had been so
+ glorious throughout the world." Full of these mournful ideas,
+ he repeated the following verse of Homer:</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"The day shall come, that great avenging day,</p>
+
+ <p>Which Troy's proud glories in the dust shall
+ lay,</p>
+
+ <p>When Priam's powers, and Priam's self shall
+ fall,</p>
+
+ <p>And one prodigious ruin swallow all&mdash;"</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>thereby denouncing the future destiny of Rome, as he himself
+ confessed to Polybius, who desired Scipio to explain himself on
+ that occasion.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>The Sketch-Book.</h2>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>A COASTING SCRAP.</h3>
+
+ <h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4>
+
+ <p>It was a bright summer afternoon: the estuary of Poole
+ Harbour lay extended before me; its broad expanse studded with
+ inlands of sand and furze bushes, of which Brownsea is the most
+ considerable. A slight ripple marked the deeper channels which
+ were of a blue colour, and the shallow mud banks being but
+ barely covered by the tide, appeared like sheets of molten
+ silver. The blue hills of Purbeck bounded the distant
+ heath-lands to the westward, and the harbour extended itself
+ inland towards the town of Wareham, becoming more and more
+ intricate in its navigation, although it receives the
+ contributions of two rivers, the Piddle and the Froome, arising
+ probably from the soil carried down by the streams, and the
+ faint action of the tide at a distance of eight or ten miles
+ from the mouth of the harbour. The Wareham clay boats added
+ life to the scene. Some were wending their way through the
+ intricate channels close hauled upon a wind; others were going
+ right away with a flowing sheet. On the eastern side was the
+ bold sweep of the shore, extending to the mouth of the harbour,
+ and terminating in a narrow point of bright sand hills,
+ separating the quiet waters of the harbour from the boisterous
+ turmoilings of the English Channel.</p>
+
+ <p>Sauntering along the Quay of Poole, indulging in a kind of
+ reverie, thinking, or in fact, thinking of nothing at all, (a
+ kind of waking dream, when hundreds of ideas, recollections,
+ and feelings float with wonderful rapidity through the brain,)
+ my attention was attracted by a stout, hardy-faced pilot, with
+ water boots on his legs, and a red, woollen night-cap on his
+ head, who was driving a very earnest bargain for a "small, but
+ elegant assortment," of dabs and flounders. "Dree and zixpence
+ if you like," said he. "I could a bought vour times as much vor
+ one and zixpence coast-ways, if I'd a mind, and I'll give thee
+ no more, and not a word of a lie." His oratory conquered the
+ coyness of the fishy damsel; and he invited the lady to take a
+ glass of "zomat avore he topped his boom for Swanwidge."</p>
+
+ <p>Having before me the certainty of a dull, monotonous
+ afternoon, and cheerless evening, without any visible means of
+ amusement, I instantly closed a bargain with Dick Hart (for
+ such was the pilot's name) to give me a cast to Swanwidge. In a
+ short time I found myself on board a trim, little pilot boat,
+ gliding along the waters as the sun was sliding his downward
+ course, and shedding a mellow radiance over the distant scenery
+ towards Lytchett. The white steeple of Poole church was lighted
+ by the rays, while the town presented a neat and picturesque
+ appearance with the masts of the shipping cutting against the
+ blue sky.</p>
+
+ <p>Dick Hart formed no small feature in the scene as he stood
+ at the helm with his red cap and black, curly hair, smoking a
+ short, clay pipe, which like his own face, had become rather
+ brown in service. He looked around him with an air of
+ independence and unconcern, as the "monarch of all he
+ surveyed," casting his eye up now and then at the trim of his
+ canvass, but more frequently keeping it on me. Dick began to
+ open <span class="pagenum"><a id="page117"
+ name="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span> his budget of chat, and I
+ found him as full of fun as his mainsail was full of
+ nettles.</p>
+
+ <p>A voice from the forecastle called out to Dick, who was so
+ intent on his story that the helm slipped from his hand, and
+ the ship flew up in the wind, "Mind, skipper, or you will run
+ down Old Betty." I was astonished at the insinuation against my
+ noble captain that he was likely to behave rude to a lady, but
+ my suspicions were soon removed, when I saw Old Betty was a
+ buoy, floating on the waters, adorned with a furze bush. Old
+ Betty danced merrily on the rippling wave with her furze bush
+ by way of a feather, with shreds of dried sea weed hanging to
+ it forming ribbons to complete the head dress of the lady buoy.
+ The nearer we approached, the more rapid did Betty dance, and
+ when we passed close alongside of her, she curtsied up and down
+ as if to welcome our visit. Dick narrated why a buoy placed at
+ the head of a mud bank obtained the name of a <i>lady fair</i>,
+ and I briefly noted it down.</p>
+
+ <p>Many years ago a single lady resided at Poole, of plain
+ manners, unaffected simplicity, affable, yet retiring,
+ and&mdash;</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p>"Passing rich with forty pounds a-year."</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>The gentry courted her, but she still adhered to her
+ secluded habits. Year after year rolled on, and though some may
+ have admired her, she was never led to the altar, and
+ consequently her condition was <i>unaltered</i>. Kind and
+ friendly neighbours kept a vigilant eye upon her proceedings,
+ but her character was unimpeachable; and they all agreed that
+ she was a very suspicious person, because they could not
+ slander her. She lived a blameless single lady.</p>
+
+ <p>Her attentions were directed to an orphan boy. He was her
+ constant companion, and the object of her tenderest solicitude.
+ As he grew up he excelled the youth of his own age in manly
+ exercises; could thrash all of his own size, when insulted, but
+ never played the tyrant, or the bully. He could make the
+ longest innings at cricket, and as for swimming in all its
+ various branches, none could compare with William. It was
+ finally arranged by a merchant to send William a voyage to
+ Newfoundland, and the news soon spread round the town that
+ William (for he was a general favourite) was to <i>see</i> the
+ world by taking to the <i>sea</i>.</p>
+
+ <p>The time arrived when the ship was to be warped out from the
+ Quay, and to sail for her destination. The crew and the
+ passengers were all on board, and William was, by his absence,
+ rather trespassing on the indulgence of the captain; but who
+ could be angry with the boy whom every body loved?</p>
+
+ <p>The town gossips, and many a fair maiden, were on the Quay
+ to see young William embark. The tide had already turned, and
+ the captain was about to give the word "to cast off and let all
+ go;" to send the vessel, as it were, adrift, loose and
+ unfettered upon the waters, to struggle as a thing of life with
+ the billows of the Atlantic, but animated and controled by the
+ energies of men. Just at this moment William appeared at the
+ end of the Quay, walking slowly to the scene of embarkation
+ with his kind and benevolent benefactress leaning, and leaning
+ heavily, for her heart was heavy, upon the arm of her dutiful
+ and beloved William. As they approached, the crowd made way
+ with profound respect, not the cringing respect paid to
+ superior wealth, but with that respect which worth of character
+ and innate virtue can and will command, though poverty may
+ smite and desolate.</p>
+
+ <p>They walked unconscious of the notice they attracted. Their
+ hearts were too full to heed the sympathies of others. The
+ youth kept his eye fixed upon the loosening topsails of his
+ ship; his benefactress grasped his arm almost convulsively, and
+ looked, or rather stared, upon the ground. She dreaded the
+ last, the hurried "fare well," the last look, the last word
+ from her William, and she tottered as she approached the side
+ of the ship. They stood locked hand in hand at the edge of the
+ Quay; not a word was uttered by either; but they gazed at each
+ other with a fondness which showed that their souls were in
+ communion.</p>
+
+ <p>"Now, William, jump on board&mdash;cast off there forward,"
+ exclaimed the captain; "swing her head round&mdash;heave away
+ my boys&mdash;come, William, come my boy."</p>
+
+ <p>The youth awoke as from a startled sleep. He imprinted a
+ kiss, the last kiss, upon the cold cheeks of his benefactress,
+ and dashing away with the sleeve of his jacket a tear, of which
+ he felt ashamed, in a moment he was on the quarter deck of his
+ commander. He durst not look again upon the Quay; but had he
+ looked he would have seen many a weeping maiden who had never
+ told her love, and he would have seen his affectionate
+ benefactress borne away in a fainting fit. All this he saw not,
+ for he braced his courage up before his future messmates, and
+ he looked forward <span class="pagenum"><a id="page118"
+ name="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> to his duties,
+ considering the past as but a dream.</p>
+
+ <p>Months elapsed and tidings were frequently received of
+ William. He had distinguished himself by his activity and
+ docility. His townsmen heard with pleasure of his good conduct,
+ and looked forward with satisfaction to welcome his return;
+ when at length a pilot boat brought intelligence that the ship
+ was lying at anchor at the mouth of the harbour, waiting the
+ next tide with loss of foremast in a heavy gale the preceding
+ night off the Bill of Portland. His benefactress, impatient of
+ delay, immediately hired a boat, and preceded to the ship
+ before the tide had turned; but she no sooner reached the deck
+ than she was informed by the captain that William was aloft
+ when the foremast went by the board on the preceding night, and
+ that he fell into the raging waves without the possibility of
+ relief being afforded him.</p>
+
+ <p>"God's will be done," murmured the unhappy woman as she
+ clasped her hands, and taking her station at the gangway, she
+ continued gazing on the water as it rippled by, in a state of
+ unconsciousness to every passing object. In the meantime the
+ vessel was under weigh, and was coming once more in sight of
+ Brownsea, when a plunge was heard&mdash;"she's overboard,"
+ exclaimed a sailor&mdash;"cut away some spars&mdash;lower the
+ boats&mdash;over with the hen coops&mdash;down with the helm,
+ and back the topsails"&mdash;roared out many voices; but she
+ had sunk to rise no more! Her corpse was found a few days after
+ when the tide receded, lying on a mud bank, close to the buoy
+ which has ever since been known by every sailor and every pilot
+ of Poole under the name of Old Betty. But to complete the sad
+ narrative, it appeared that William, as he excelled in
+ swimming, succeeded in gaining the shore of Portland, and
+ arrived in time at Poole to attend the remains of his
+ benefactress to the grave in character of chief mourner.</p>
+
+ <p>On opening her papers it was discovered that in losing his
+ benefactress he had lost his mother! That she had been
+ privately married to a widower of considerable fortune, who had
+ one son by his first wife, and that on his demise the estate
+ would devolve on William, provided his half brother had no
+ children. A few days afterwards the death of Henry
+ &mdash;&mdash;, Esq. of &mdash;&mdash; Hall, Worcestershire,
+ was formally announced in the daily Journals, and the
+ unexpected claims of William being acknowledged, he succeeded
+ to a very fine property and estate, and died as much respected
+ in a good old age as he was beloved in his buoyant childhood,
+ when the gossips and the maidens of Poole agreed that the
+ orphan boy promised to be a "nice young man."&mdash;"And not
+ word of a lie in it," said Dick Hart, as he finished his story,
+ his pipe, and his grog.</p>
+
+ <p>We were now steering across Studland Bay. Banks of dark
+ clouds were gathering majestically on the eastern horizon, and
+ the sun was rapidly sinking in a flood of golden light. Behind
+ us was the Isle of Brownsea, with its dark fir plantations and
+ lofty, cold-looking, awkward castle. On the left was the line
+ of low sand hills, stretching away towards Christchurch, and
+ seeming to join the Needles' Rocks, situated at the western
+ extremity of the Isle of Wight, the high chalk cliffs of which
+ reflected the sun's last rays, giving a rich and placid feeling
+ to the cold and distant grey. On the right, and closer to us,
+ was the brown and purple heath-land of Studland Bay. Here
+ barren, there patches of verdure, and the thin smoke threading
+ its way from a cluster of trees, denoted where the village
+ hamlet lay embosomed from the storms of the southwest gales,
+ close at the foot and under the shelter of a lofty chalk range
+ which abuts abruptly on the sea, and before which stands a
+ high, detached pyramidical rock, rising out of the waters like
+ a sheeted spectre, and known to mariners under the suspicious
+ name of <i>Old Harry</i>.</p>
+
+ <p>This coast was once notorious for smuggling, but those days
+ of nautical chivalry have ceased, if Dick Hart was to be
+ credited, who shook his head very mournfully as he alluded to
+ "the <i>Block-head</i> service."</p>
+
+ <h4>JAMES SILVESTER.</h4>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>SCENE FROM A FRENCH DRAMA.</h3>
+
+ <p>No. XVII. of the <i>Foreign Quarterly Review</i>, contains a
+ paper of much interest to the playgoer as well as to the lover
+ of dramatic literature&mdash;on two French dramas of great
+ celebrity&mdash;<i>La Mar&eacute;chale d'Ancre</i>, by de
+ Vigny; and <i>Marion Delorme</i>, by Victor Hugo. We quote a
+ scene from the former. Concini, the principal character, is a
+ favourite of Louis XIII.; the Mar&eacute;chale, his wife, has a
+ first love, Borgia, a Corsican, who, disappointed in his early
+ suit by the stratagems of Concini, has married the beautiful
+ but uncultivated Isabella Monti. On the conflicting feelings of
+ this strange personage, his
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page119"
+ name="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> hatred to the husband,
+ and his relenting towards the wife; and the licentious plans
+ of Concini for the seduction of Isabella, whom he has seen
+ without knowing her to be the wife of his deadly enemy, the
+ interest of the piece is made to turn. The jealous Isabella
+ is at last persuaded that the Mar&eacute;chale has robbed
+ her of the attachment of her husband, and appears as a
+ witness against her on the pretended charge of witchcraft
+ and sorcery.</p>
+
+ <p>While the Mar&eacute;chal, even in the dungeon of the
+ Bastile, is awing her oppressors into silence, bands of
+ murderers are seeking Concini through the streets of Paris. As
+ he issues from the house of the Jew which contains Isabella, he
+ hears through the obscurity of the tempestuous night the cries
+ of the populace, but he thinks they are but the indications of
+ some passing tumult. He rests for a moment against a pillar on
+ the pavement, but recoils again, as from a serpent, for he
+ perceives it is the stone on which Ravaillac had planted his
+ foot when he assassinated Henry, and in that murder it is
+ darkly insinuated he had a share. Through the darkness of the
+ Rue de la Ferronnerie, Michael Borgia is seen advancing,
+ conducting the two children of his rival. He has promised to
+ the Mar&eacute;chale to save them from the dangers of the
+ night, and has brought them in safety to his own threshold. But
+ his promise of safety extended not to Concini. The wild
+ ferocity of the following scene has many parallels in the
+ actual duels of the time, as delineated in Froissart and
+ Brantome.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia (with the children.)</i>&mdash;Poor children! come
+ in; you will be safer here than in the houses to which they
+ have pursued us.</p>
+
+ <p><i>The Boy</i>.&mdash;Ah! there is a man standing up.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia (turning the lantern which the child holds towards
+ Concini.)</i>&mdash;Concini!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Borgia! (<i>Each raises his dagger,
+ and seizes with the left arm the right of his enemy. They
+ remain motionless, and gazing at each other. The children
+ escape into the street and disappear</i>.)</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Let go my arm, and I will liberate
+ yours.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;What shall be my security?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Those children whom you have with
+ you.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;I am labouring to save them. Your
+ palace is on fire&mdash;your wife is arrested&mdash;your
+ fortune is wrecked&mdash;base, senseless adventurer!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Have done&mdash;let go&mdash;let us
+ fight!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i> (<i>pushing him from him</i>.)&mdash;Back,
+ then, and draw your sword.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i> (<i>draws</i>.)&mdash;Begin.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Remove those children&mdash;they would
+ be in our way.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;They are gone.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Take these letters, assassin! I had
+ promised to restore them to you. (<i>He hands to Concini a
+ black portfolio</i>.)</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;I would have taken them from your
+ body.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;I have performed my promise&mdash;and
+ now, ravisher! look to yourself.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Base seducer, defend
+ <i>thyself</i>.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;The night is dark, but I shall feel you
+ by my hate: Plant your foot against the wall, that you may not
+ retreat.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Would I could chain yours to the
+ pavement, that I might be sure of my mark!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Agree that the first who is wounded
+ shall inform the other.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Yes, for we should not see the blood.
+ I swear it by the thirst I feel for yours.&mdash;But not that
+ the affair should end there.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;No, only to begin again with more
+ spirit.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>&mdash;To continue till we can lift the sword
+ no longer.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Till the death of one or other of
+ us.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>&mdash;I see you not. Are you in front of
+ me?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Yes, wretch! Parry that thrust. Has it
+ sped?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;No; take that in return.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;I am untouched.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;What, still? Oh! would I could but see
+ thy hateful visage. (<i>They continue to fight desperately, but
+ without touching each other. Both rest for a little</i>.)</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Have you a cuirass on, Concini?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;I had, but I left it with your wife in
+ her chamber.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Liar! (<i>He rushes on him with his
+ sword. Their blades are locked for a moment, and both are
+ wounded</i>.)</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;I feel no sword opposed to mine. Have
+ I wounded you?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>, (<i>leaning on his sword, and staunching the
+ wound in his breast with, his handkerchief</i>.) No, let us
+ begin again. There!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i> (<i>binding his scarf round his
+ thigh</i>.)&mdash;One moment and I am with you. (<i>He staggers
+ against the
+ pillar</i>.)</p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page120"
+ name="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>, (<i>sinking on his knees</i>.)&mdash;Are you
+ not wounded yourself?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;No, no! I am resting. Advance, and you
+ shall see.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i> (<i>endeavouring to rise, but
+ unable</i>.)&mdash;I have struck my foot against a
+ stone&mdash;wait an instant.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i> (<i>with delight</i>.)&mdash;Ah! you are
+ wounded!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;No, I tell you&mdash;'tis you who are
+ so. Your voice is changed.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>, (<i>feeling his sword</i>.)&mdash;My blade
+ smells of blood.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;Mine is dabbled in it.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Come then, if you are not *&mdash;come
+ and finish me.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>, (<i>with triumph</i>.)&mdash;Finish! then you
+ are wounded.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>, (<i>with a voice of despair</i>.)&mdash;Were
+ I not, would I not have already stabbed you twenty times over?
+ But you are at least as severely handled.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>&mdash;It maybe so, or I should not be
+ grovelling here.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;Shall we now have done?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>, (<i>enraged</i>.)&mdash;Both
+ wounded&mdash;yet both living!</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>.&mdash;What avails the blood I have drawn,
+ while a drop remains.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Borgia</i>.&mdash;O! were I but beside thee! <i>Enter</i>
+ Vitry, <i>followed by the Guards walking slowly. He holds the
+ young</i> Count de la Pene <i>by the hand; the boy leads his
+ sister</i>.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Vitry</i>, (<i>a pistol in his hand</i>.)&mdash;Well, my
+ child, which is your father?</p>
+
+ <p><i>Count de la Pene</i>.&mdash;Oh! protect him,
+ sir,&mdash;that is he leaning against the pillar.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Vitry</i>, (<i>aloud</i>.)&mdash;Draw tip&mdash;remain at
+ that gate&mdash;Guards! (<i>The Guards advance with lanterns
+ and flambeaux</i>.) Sir, I arrest you&mdash;your sword.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Concini</i>, (<i>thrusting at him</i>.)&mdash;Take it.
+ (Vitry <i>fires his pistol</i>&mdash;Du Hallier, D'Ornano,
+ <i>and</i> Person <i>fire at the same time</i>&mdash;Concini
+ <i>falls dead</i>.)</p>
+
+ <p>The malice of Du Luynes, the inveterate enemy of the
+ D'Ancres, and afterwards the minion of Louis, contrives that
+ the Mar&eacute;chale, in her way to execution, shall be
+ conducted to this scene, where her husband lies dead, on the
+ spot which had been stained with the blood of Henry, like
+ Caesar at the foot of Pompey's statue; and the play concludes
+ with her indignant and animated denunciation of this wretch,
+ who stands calm and triumphant, while the Mar&eacute;chale
+ exacts from her son, over the body of Concini, an oath of
+ vengeance against the destroyer of her house.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h3>THE MARTYR-STUDENT.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>I am sick of the bird,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">And its carol of glee;</p>
+
+ <p>It brings the voices heard</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">In boyhood back to me:</p>
+
+ <p>Our old village hall,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Our church upon the hill,</p>
+
+ <p>And the mossy gates&mdash;all</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">My darken'd eyes fill.</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>No more gladly leaping</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">With the choir I go,</p>
+
+ <p>My spirit is weeping</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">O'er her silver bow:</p>
+
+ <p>From the golden quiver</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The arrows are gone,</p>
+
+ <p>The wind from Death's river</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Sounds in it alone!</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>I sit alone and think</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">In the silent room.</p>
+
+ <p>I look up, and I shrink</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">From the glimmering gloom.</p>
+
+ <p>O, that the little one</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Were here with her shout!&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p>O, that my sister's arm</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">My neck were roundabout!</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>I cannot read a book,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">My eyes are dim and weak;</p>
+
+ <p>To every chair I look&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">There is not one to speak!</p>
+
+ <p>Could I but sit once more</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Upon that well-known chair,</p>
+
+ <p>By my mother, as of yore,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Her hand upon my hair!</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>My father's eyes seeking,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">In trembling hope to trace</p>
+
+ <p>If the south wind had been breaking</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The shadows from my face;&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p>How sweet to die away</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Beside our mother's hearth,</p>
+
+ <p>Amid the balmy light</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">That shone upon our birth!</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>A wild and burning boy,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">I climb the mountain's crest,</p>
+
+ <p>The garland of my joy</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Did leap upon my breast;</p>
+
+ <p>A spirit walk'd before me</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Along the stormy night,</p>
+
+ <p>The clouds melted o'er me,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The shadows turn'd to light.</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Among my matted locks</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The death-wind is blowing;</p>
+
+ <p>I hear, like a mighty rush of plumes,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The Sea of Darkness flowing!</p>
+
+ <p>Upon the summer air</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Two wings are spreading wide;</p>
+
+ <p>A shadow, like a pyramid,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Is sitting by my side!</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>My mind was like a page</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Of gold-wrought story,</p>
+
+ <p>Where the rapt eye might gaze</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">On the tale of glory;</p>
+
+ <p>But the rich painted words</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Are waxing faint and old,</p>
+
+ <p>The leaves have lost their light,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The letters their gold!</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>And memory glimmers</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">On the pages I unrol,</p>
+
+ <p>Like the dim light creeping</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Into an antique scroll.</p>
+
+ <p>When the scribe is searching</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The writing pale and damp,</p>
+
+ <p>At midnight, and the flame</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Is dying in the lamp.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <h4><i>Fraser's Magazine.</i></h4>
+ <hr class="full" />
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page121"
+ name="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span>
+
+ <h2>The Selector;</h2>
+
+ <h3>AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS.</h3>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS.</h3>
+
+ <p>M.J.C.L. De Sismondi, has, to suit the plan of the
+ <i>Cabinet Cyclopaedia</i>, endeavoured to include in one of
+ its volumes&mdash;a summary of Italian history from the fall of
+ the Roman empire to the end of the Middle Age&mdash;a period of
+ about six and a half centuries. What a succession of stirring
+ scenes does this volume present; what fields of bloody action;
+ what revelry of carnage; what schemes of petty ambition; what
+ trampling on necks, what uncrowning of heads; what orgies of
+ fire, sword, famine, and slaughter; what overtoppling of
+ thrones, and unseating of rulers; what pantings after freedom;
+ what slavery of passion; what sunny scenes of fortune to be
+ shaded with melancholy pictures of desolation and
+ decay&mdash;are comprised in these few pages of the history of
+ a comparatively small portion of the world for a short
+ period&mdash;a narrow segment of the cycle of time. What
+ Sismondi so ably accomplished in sixteen volumes, he has here
+ comprised in one. He tells us that he could sacrifice episodes
+ and details without regret. The present is not, however, an
+ abridgment of his great work, "but an entirely new history, in
+ which, with my eyes fixed solely on the free people of the
+ several Italian states, I have studied to portray their first
+ deliverance, their heroism, and their misfortunes."</p>
+
+ <p>We quote a few sketchy extracts.</p>
+
+ <h3><i>Last Struggle of Rome for Liberty</i>.</h3>
+
+ <p>"1453. Stefano Porcari, a Roman noble, willing to profit by
+ the interregnum which preceded the nomination of Nicholas V.,
+ to make the Roman citizens demand the renewal and confirmation
+ of their ancient rights and privileges, was denounced to the
+ new pope as a dangerous person; and, so far from obtaining what
+ he had hoped, he had the grief to see the citizens always more
+ strictly excluded from any participation in public affairs.
+ Those were entrusted only to prelates, who, being prepared for
+ it neither by their studies nor sentiments, suffered the
+ administration to fall into the most shameful disorder.</p>
+
+ <p>"In an insurrection of the people in the Piazza Navona,
+ arising from a quarrel, which began at a bull-fight, Stefano
+ Porcari endeavoured to direct their attention to a more noble
+ object, and turn this tumult to the advantage of liberty. The
+ pope hastily indulged all the fancies of the people, with
+ respect to their games or amusements; but firmly rejected all
+ their serious demands, and exiled Porcari to Bologna. The
+ latter hoped to obtain by conspiracy what he had failed to
+ accomplish by insurrection. There were not less than 400 exiled
+ Roman citizens: he persuaded them all to join him, and
+ appointed them a rendezvous at Rome, for the 5th of January,
+ 1453, in the house of his brother-in-law. Having escaped the
+ vigilance of the legate of Bologna, he proceeded there himself,
+ accompanied by 300 soldiers, whom he had enlisted in his
+ service. The whole band was assembled on the night of the
+ appointed 5th of January; and Stefano Porcari was haranguing
+ them, to prepare them for the attack of the capitol,&mdash;in
+ which he reckoned on re-establishing the senate of the Roman
+ republic,&mdash;when, his secret having been betrayed, the
+ house was surrounded with troops, the doors suddenly forced,
+ and the conspirators overcome by numbers before their arms had
+ been distributed. Next morning, the body of Stefano Porcari,
+ with those of nine of his associates, were seen hanging from
+ the battlements of the castle of St. Angelo. In spite of their
+ ardent entreaties, they had been denied confession and the
+ sacrament. Eight days later, the executions, after a mockery of
+ law proceedings, were renewed, and continued in great numbers.
+ The pope succeeded in causing those who had taken refuge in
+ neighbouring states to be delivered up to him; and thus the
+ last spark of Roman liberty was extinguished in blood."</p>
+
+ <h3><i>General Mildness of Italian Warfare</i>.</h3>
+
+ <p>"1492. The horses and armour of the Italian men at arms were
+ reckoned superior to those of the transalpine nations against
+ which they had measured themselves in France, during "the war
+ of the public weal." The Italian captains had made war a
+ science, every branch of which they thoroughly knew. It was
+ never suspected for a moment that the soldier should be wanting
+ in courage: but the general mildness of manners, and the
+ progress of civilization, had accustomed the Italians to make
+ war with sentiments of honour and humanity towards the
+ vanquished. Ever ready to give quarter, they did not strike a
+ fallen enemy. Often, after having taken from him his horse and
+ armour, they set him free; at least, they never demanded a
+ ransom so enormous as to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page122"
+ name="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span> ruin him. Horsemen who
+ went to battle clad in steel, were rarely killed or wounded,
+ so long as they kept their saddles. Once unhorsed, they
+ surrendered. The battle, therefore, never became murderous.
+ The courage of the Italian soldiers, which had accommodated
+ itself to this milder warfare, suddenly gave way before the
+ new dangers and ferocity of barbarian enemies. They became
+ terror-struck when they perceived that the French caused
+ dismounted horsemen to be put to death by their valets, or
+ made prisoners only to extort from them, under the name of
+ ransom, all they possessed. The Italian cavalry, equal in
+ courage, and superior in military science, to the French,
+ was for some time unable to make head against an enemy whose
+ ferocity disturbed their imaginations."</p>
+
+ <h3><i>Battle of Marignano</i>.</h3>
+
+ <p>"1515.&mdash;Francis I. succeeded Louis XII. on the 1st of
+ January; on the 27th of June he renewed his predecessor's
+ treaty of alliance with Venice; and on the 15th of August,
+ entered the plains of Lombardy, by the marquisate of Saluzzo,
+ with a powerful army. He met but little resistance in the
+ provinces south of the Po, but the Swiss meanwhile arrived in
+ great force to defend Maximilian Sforza, whom, since they had
+ reseated him on the throne, they regarded as their vassal.
+ Francis in vain endeavoured to negotiate with them; they would
+ not listen to the voice of their commanders; democracy had
+ passed from their <i>landsgemeinde</i> into their armies,
+ popular orators roused their passions; and on the 13th of
+ September they impetuously left Milan to attack Francis I. at
+ Marignano. Deep ditches lined with soldiers bordered the
+ causeway by which they advanced; their commanders wished by
+ some manoeuvre to get clear of them, or make the enemy change
+ his position; but the Swiss, despising all the arts of war,
+ expected to command success by mere intrepidity and bodily
+ strength. They marched to the battery in full front; they
+ repulsed the charge of the knights with their halberds, and
+ threw themselves with fury into the ditches which barred their
+ road. Some rushed on to the very mouths of the cannon, which
+ guarded the king, and there fell. Night closed on the
+ combatants; and the two armies mingled together fought on for
+ four hours longer by moonlight. Complete darkness at length
+ forced them to rest on their arms; but the king's trumpet
+ continually sounded, to indicate to the bivouac where he was to
+ be found; while the two famous horns of Uri and Unterwalden
+ called the Swiss together. The battle was renewed on the 14th
+ at daybreak: the unrelenting obstinacy was the same; but the
+ French had taken advantage of the night to collect and fortify
+ themselves. Marshal Trivulzio, who had been present at eighteen
+ pitched battles, declared that every other seemed to him
+ children's play in comparison with this "battle of giants," as
+ he called it: 20,000 dead already covered the ground; of these
+ two-thirds were Swiss. When the Swiss despaired of victory they
+ retreated slowly,&mdash;but menacing and terrible. The French
+ did not dare to pursue them."</p>
+
+ <p>The concluding paragraph of the volume is beautifully
+ enthusiastic: it may almost be regarded as prophetic in
+ connexion with events that are at this moment shaking Italy to
+ her very base:</p>
+
+ <p>"Italy is crushed; but her heart still beats with the love
+ of liberty, virtue, and glory: she is chained and covered with
+ blood; but she still knows her strength and her future destiny:
+ she is insulted by those for whom she has opened the way to
+ every improvement; but she feels that she is formed to take the
+ lead again: and Europe will know no repose till the nation
+ which, in the dark ages, lighted the torch of civilization with
+ that of liberty, shall be enabled herself to enjoy the light
+ which she created."</p>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>CHILD'S ARITHMETICAL TABLES.</h3>
+
+ <p>The Seventh Edition, besides being well adapted for Schools,
+ will be found useful in the business of life. It includes the
+ monies, weights, and measures, mentioned in Scripture, the
+ length of miles in different countries, astronomical signs, and
+ other matters computed with great care.</p>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>THE GEORGIAN ERA.</h3>
+
+ <p>This work is intended to comprise Memoirs of the most
+ eminent characters who have flourished in Great Britain during
+ the reigns of the four Georges: the present volume being only a
+ fourth of its extent, and containing the Royal Family, the
+ Pretenders and their adherents, churchmen, dissenters, and
+ statesmen. The importance of the chosen period is prefatorily
+ urged by the editor: "In comparison with the Elizabethan or the
+ Modern Augustan, (as the reign of Anne has been designated,
+ that which may be appropriately termed the Georgian Era,
+ possesses a paramount <span class="pagenum"><a id="page123"
+ name="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span> claim to notice; for not
+ only has it been equally fertile in conspicuous characters,
+ and more prolific of great events, but its influence is
+ actually felt by the existing community of Great
+ Britain."</p>
+
+ <p>The several memoirs, so far as a cursory glance enables us
+ to judge, are edited with great care. Their uniformity of plan
+ is very superior to hastily compiled biographies. Each memoir
+ contains the life and labours of its subject, in the smallest
+ space consistent with perspicuity; the dryness of names, dates,
+ and plain facts being admirably relieved by characteristic
+ anecdotes of the party, and a brief but judicious summary of
+ character by the editor. In the latter consists the original
+ value of the work. The reader need not, however, take this
+ summary "for granted:" he is in possession of the main facts
+ from which the editor has drawn his estimate, and he may, in
+ like manner, "weigh and consider," and draw his own inference.
+ The anecdotes, to borrow a phrase from Addison, are the
+ "sweetmeats" of the book, but the caution with which they are
+ admitted, adds to their worth. The running reader may say that
+ much of this portion is not entirely new to him: granted; but
+ it would be unwise to reject an anecdote for its popularity; as
+ Addison thought of "Chevy Chase," its commonness is its worth.
+ But, it should be added, that such anecdotes are not told in
+ the circumlocutory style of gossip, nor nipt in the bud by
+ undeveloped brevity. We have Selden's pennyworth of spirit
+ without the glass of water: the quintessence of condensation,
+ which, we are told, is the result of time and experience, which
+ rejects what is no longer essential. Here circumspection was
+ necessary, and it has been well exercised. The anecdotes are
+ not merely amusing but useful, since only when placed in
+ juxtaposition with a man's whole life, can such records be of
+ service in appreciating his character.</p>
+
+ <p>Let us turn to the volume for a few examples, and take
+ George the Fourth and Sheridan, for their contemporary
+ interest; though the earlier characters are equally attractive.
+ In the former the reader may better compare the editor's
+ inference with his own impression.</p>
+
+ <h3><i>George the Fourth</i>.</h3>
+
+ <p>"Endowed by nature with remarkably handsome features, and a
+ form so finely proportioned, that at one period of his life it
+ was deemed almost the best model of manly beauty in existence,
+ George the Fourth, during the early part of his manhood,
+ eclipsed the whole of his gay associates in fashion and
+ gallantry, as much by personal attractions, as pre-eminence in
+ birth. Byron describes him as having possessed "fascination in
+ his very bow;" and it is said, that a young peeress, on hearing
+ of the prince's attentions to one of her fair friends,
+ exclaimed, "I sincerely hope that it may not be my turn next,
+ for to repel him is impossible." Towards the middle period of
+ his life, he became so enormously fat, that four life-guardsmen
+ could not, without difficulty, lift him on horseback; but, as
+ he advanced in years, although still corpulent, his
+ inconvenient obesity gradually diminished.</p>
+
+ <p>"He scarcely ever forgot an injury, an affront, or a marked
+ opposition to his personal wishes. The cordiality which had
+ previously subsisted between his majesty and Prince Leopold,
+ entirely ceased, when the latter volunteered a visit to Queen
+ Caroline on her return to this country, in 1820: Brougham and
+ Dentrum, for the zeal with which they had advocated the cause
+ of their royal client, were, during a long period, deemed
+ unworthy of those legal honours to which their high talents and
+ long standing at the bar, justly entitled them: and Sir Robert
+ Wilson was arbitrarily dismissed from the service, for his
+ interference at her majesty's funeral. On account of his
+ unpopular reception, by the mob, when he accompanied the allied
+ sovereigns to Guildhall, in 1814, he never afterwards honoured
+ the city with his presence; and when Rossini rudely declined
+ the repetition of a piece of music, in which the king had taken
+ a conspicuous part, at a court concert, his majesty turned his
+ back on the composer, to whose works, from that moment, he
+ displayed the most unequivocal dislike. But, on the other hand,
+ some cases have been recorded, in which his conduct was
+ unquestionably tolerant and forgiving. He allowed Canning, an
+ avowed supporter of the queen, to retain office, without taking
+ any part in the ministerial proceedings against her majesty;
+ and at the last stage of his earthly career, sent the Duke of
+ Sussex, with whom he had long been at variance, his own ribbon
+ of the order of St. Patrick, with an assurance of his most
+ sincere affection. Erskine, while attorney-general to the
+ prince, had so offended his royal highness, by accepting a
+ retainer from Paine, on a prosecution being instituted against
+ the latter for publishing the Rights of Man, that his immediate
+ resignation was required. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page124"
+ name="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span> But, sometime afterwards,
+ Erskine was desired to attend at Carlton house, where the
+ prince received him with great cordiality, and, after
+ avowing his conviction that, 'in the instance that had
+ separated them, his learned and eloquent friend had acted
+ from the purest motives, he wished to give publicity to his
+ present opinion on the subject, by appointing Mr. Erskine
+ his chancellor.' On one occasion, at the opening of a
+ session of parliament by George the Third in person, his
+ royal highness, who was then very much in debt, having gone
+ down to the house of lords in a superb military uniform with
+ diamond epaulettes, Major Doyle subsequently remarked to
+ him, that his equipage had been much noticed by the mob.
+ 'One fellow,' added the major, 'prodigiously admired, what
+ he termed 'the fine things which the prince had upon his
+ shoulders.' 'Mighty fine, indeed,' replied another; 'but,
+ mind me, they'll soon be <i>upon our shoulders</i>, for all
+ that.' 'Ah, you rogue!' exclaimed the prince, laughing,
+ 'that's a hit of your own, I am convinced:&mdash;but, come,
+ take some wine.'</p>
+
+ <p>"He had some inclination for scientific pursuits, and highly
+ respected those who were eminent for mechanical inventions. He
+ contributed largely towards the erection of a monument to the
+ memory of Watt. Of his medical information, slight as it
+ undoubtedly was, he is said to have been particularly proud.
+ Carpue had demonstrated to him the general anatomy of the human
+ body, in his younger days; and for a number of years, the
+ ingenious Weiss submitted to his inspection all the new
+ surgical instruments, in one of which the king suggested some
+ valuable improvements.</p>
+
+ <p>"His talents were, undoubtedly, above the level of
+ mediocrity: they have, however, been greatly overrated, on the
+ supposition that several powerfully written documents, put
+ forth under his name, but composed by some of his more
+ highly-gifted friends, were his own productions. His style was,
+ in fact, much beneath his station: it was inelegant, destitute
+ of force, and even occasionally incorrect. He read his speeches
+ well, but not excellently: he possessed no eloquence, although,
+ as a convivial orator, he is said to have been rather
+ successful.</p>
+
+ <p>"At one time, while an associate of Sheridan, Erskine, Fox,
+ &amp;c., he affected, in conversation, to be brilliant, and so
+ far succeeded, as to colloquial liveliness, that during their
+ festive intercourse, according to the witty barrister's own
+ admission, 'he fairly kept up at saddle-skirts' even with
+ Curran. Notwithstanding this compliment, his pretensions to wit
+ appear to have been but slender; the best sayings attributed to
+ him being a set of middling puns, of which the following is a
+ favourable selection:&mdash;When Langdale's distillery was
+ plundered, during the riots of 1780, he asked why the
+ proprietor had not defended his property. 'He did not possess
+ the means to do so,' was the reply. 'Not the means of defence!'
+ exclaimed the prince, 'and he a brewer&mdash;a man who has been
+ all his life at <i>cart</i> and <i>tierce</i>!&mdash;Sheridan
+ having told him that Fox had <i>cooed</i> in vain to Miss
+ Pulteney, the prince replied, 'that his friend's attempt on the
+ lady's heart was a <i>coup maoqu&egrave;</i>.'&mdash;He once
+ quoted from Suetonius, the words, '<i>Jure</i> caesus videtur,'
+ to prove, jestingly, that trial by jury was as old as the time
+ of the first Caesar.&mdash;A newspaper panegyric on Fox,
+ apparently from the pen of Dr. Parr, having been presented to
+ his royal highness, he said that it reminded him of Machiavel's
+ epitaph, 'Tanto nomini nullum <i>Par</i> eulogium.'&mdash;A
+ cavalry officer, at a court ball, hammered the floor with his
+ heels so loudly, that the prince observed, 'If the war between
+ the mother country and her colonies had not terminated, he
+ might have been sent to America as a republication of the
+ <i>stamp</i> act.'&mdash;While his regiment was in daily
+ expectation of receiving orders for Ireland, some one told him,
+ that country quarters in the sister kingdom were so filthy,
+ that the rich uniforms of his corps would soon be lamentably
+ soiled: 'Let the men act as dragoons, then,' said his royal
+ highness, 'and <i>scour the country</i>.' When Horne Tooke, on
+ being committed to prison for treason, proposed, while in jail,
+ to give a series of dinners to his friends, the prince
+ remarked, that 'as an inmate of Newgate, he would act more
+ consistently by establishing a
+ <i>Ketch</i>-club.'&mdash;Michael Kelly having turned
+ wine-merchant, the prince rather facetiously said, 'that Mick
+ <i>imported</i> his music, and <i>composed</i> his wine!'"</p>
+
+ <p>We reluctantly break off here till next week.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>The Topographer</h2>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>BRIGHTON AS IT WAS.</h3>
+
+ <h4><i>(Concluded from page 90.)</i></h4>
+
+ <p>This immunity, however, deprived them of the privileges
+ which the people of the adjacent towns enjoyed; and was
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page125"
+ name="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span> probably the true reason,
+ why this town did not obtain a place among those called
+ Cinque ports. It lies in their neighbourhood, is more
+ ancient, and was always more considerable than most included
+ in that number.</p>
+
+ <p>To reduce its consequence still more, the tithes were in
+ this period taken from the incumbent, appropriated to the use
+ of the Priory at Lewes, and have never since been restored; and
+ a Convent of mendicant friars, more burthensome than ten
+ endowed ones of monks, was founded and dedicated to St.
+ Bartholomew.</p>
+
+ <p>Struggling under these difficulties, nothing but the
+ Reformation could enable the inhabitants of this place to
+ emerge from their wretchedness. And accordingly we find, that,
+ in the happier days of Queen Elizabeth, their affairs put on a
+ new face. They then applied themselves with vigour to their old
+ employments of fishing, and fitting out vessels for trade;
+ seeking subsistence from their darling element the sea.</p>
+
+ <p>Persecution prevailing at this juncture in many parts of
+ Europe, numbers fled to this island as to an asylum, and many
+ settled in this town, bringing with them industry, and an
+ attachment to maritime affairs; or soon learning them here. The
+ number of its inhabitants being thus increased, its trade
+ became proportionably greater: so that in 1579, a record now
+ subsisting says, "There are in the said town of Brighthelmston
+ of fishing-boats four-score in number, and of able mariners
+ four hundred in number, with ten thousand fishing-nets, besides
+ many other necessaries belonging to their
+ mystery."<a id="footnotetag3"
+ name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> And the descendants of many of these French,
+ Dutch, and Spanish families still reside
+ here.<a id="footnotetag4"
+ name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a></p>
+
+ <p>From this record we likewise learn, that the town was
+ fortified to the sea by a flint wall, and that the fort, called
+ the Block-house, had been then lately erected. The east-gate of
+ this wall, in a line with the Block-house was actually standing
+ last year, and has been since taken down to open a more
+ convenient entrance to a battery lately
+ built.<a id="footnotetag5"
+ name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p>
+
+ <p>The town at present consists of six principal streets, many
+ lanes, and some spaces surrounded with houses, called by the
+ inhabitants squares. The great plenty of flint stones on the
+ shore, and in the corn-fields near the town, enabled them to
+ build the walls of their houses with that material, when in
+ their most impoverished state; and their present method of
+ ornamenting the windows and doors with the admirable brick
+ which they burn for their own use, has a very pleasing effect.
+ The town improves daily, as the inhabitants, encouraged by the
+ late great resort of company, seem disposed to expend the whole
+ of what they acquire in the erecting of new buildings, or
+ making the old ones convenient. And should the increase of
+ these, in the next seven years, be equal to what it has been in
+ the last, it is probable there will be but few towns in
+ England, that will excel this in commodious
+ buildings.<a id="footnotetag6"
+ name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p>
+
+ <p>Here are two public rooms, the one convenient, the other not
+ only so, but elegant; not excelled perhaps by any public room
+ in England, that of York excepted: and the attention of the
+ proprietor in preparing every thing that may answer for the
+ conveniency and amusement of the company, is extremely
+ meritorious.</p>
+
+ <p>For divine service there is a large Church, pleasantly
+ situated on a rising ground above the town; but at a distance
+ that is inconvenient to the old and infirm. The Dissenters,
+ who, of all denominations, amount to but forty families, have a
+ Presbyterian, a Quaker's, and an Anabaptist's
+ meeting-house.</p>
+
+ <p>The men of this town are busied almost the whole year in a
+ succeeding variety of fishing; and the women industriously
+ dedicate part of their time, disengaged from domestic cares, to
+ the providing of nets adapted to the various employments of
+ their husbands.</p>
+
+ <p>The spring season is spent in dredging for oysters, which
+ are mostly bedded in the Thames and Medway, and afterwards
+ carried to the London market; the mackerel fishery employs them
+ during the months of May, June, and July; and the fruits of
+ their labour are always sent to London; as Brighthelmston has
+ the advantage of being its
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page126"
+ name="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span> nearest fishing
+ sea-coast, and as the consumption of the place, and its
+ environs, is very inconsiderable. In the early part of this
+ fishery they frequently take the red mullet; and near the
+ close of it, abundance of lobsters and prawns. August is
+ engaged in the trawl-fishery, when all sorts of flat fish
+ are taken in a net called by that name. In September they
+ fish for whiting with lines; and in November the herring
+ fishery takes place, which is the most considerable and
+ growing fishery of the whole. Those employed in this pursuit
+ show an activity and boldness almost incredible, often
+ venturing out to sea in their little boats in such weather
+ as the largest ships can scarce live in. Part of their
+ acquisition in this way is sent to London, but the greatest
+ share of it is either pickled, or dried and made red. These
+ are mostly sent to foreign markets, making this fishery a
+ national concern.<a id="footnotetag7"
+ name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a></p>
+
+ <p>In examining the ancient and modern descriptions of the
+ Baiae in Campania, where the Romans of wealth and quality,
+ during the greatness of that empire, retired for the sake of
+ health and pleasure, when public exigencies did not require
+ their attendance at Rome, and comparing them with those of
+ Brighthelmston, I can perceive a striking resemblance; and I am
+ persuaded, that every literary person who will impartially
+ consider this matter on the spot, will concur with me in
+ opinion, giving, in some measure, the preference to our own
+ Baiae, as exempt from the inconvenient steams of hot
+ sulphureous baths, and the dangerous vicinity of Mount
+ Vesuvius. And I have no doubt but it will be equally
+ frequented, when the healthful advantages of its situation
+ shall be sufficiently made known.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>Spirit of Discovery</h2>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <h3>A NIGHT ON THE NIGER.</h3>
+
+ <h4><i>(From the Landers' Travels; unpublished.)</i></h4>
+
+ <p>We made no stop whatever on the river, not even at
+ meal-times, our men suffering the canoe to glide down with the
+ stream while they were eating their food. At five in the
+ afternoon they all complained of fatigue, and we looked around
+ us for a landing-place, where we might rest awhile, but we
+ could find none, for every village which we saw after that hour
+ was unfortunately situated behind large thick morasses and
+ sloughy bogs, through which, after various provoking and
+ tedious trials, we found it impossible to penetrate. We were
+ employed three hours in the afternoon in endeavouring to find a
+ landing at some village, and though we saw them distinctly
+ enough from the water, we could not find a passage through the
+ morasses, behind which they lay. Therefore we were compelled to
+ relinquish the attempt, and continue our course on the Niger.
+ We passed several beautiful islands in the course of the day,
+ all cultivated and inhabited, but low and flat. The width of
+ the river appeared to vary considerably, sometimes it seemed to
+ be two or three miles across, and at others double that width.
+ The current drifted us along very rapidly, and we guessed it to
+ be running at the rate of three or four miles an hour. The
+ direction of the stream continued nearly east. The day had been
+ excessively warm, and the sun set in beauty and grandeur,
+ shooting forth rays tinged with the most heavenly hues, which
+ extended to the zenith. Nevertheless, the appearance of the
+ firmament, all glorious as it was, betokened a coming storm;
+ the wind whistled through the tall rushes, and darkness soon
+ covered the earth like a veil. This rendered us more anxious
+ than ever to land somewhere, we cared not where, and to
+ endeavour to procure shelter for the night, if not in a
+ village, at least under a tree. Accordingly, rallying the
+ drooping spirits of our men, we encouraged them to renew their
+ exertions by setting them the example, and our canoe darted
+ silently and swiftly down the current. We were enabled to steer
+ her rightly by the vividness of the lightning, which flashed
+ across the water continually, and by this means also we could
+ distinguish any danger before us, and avoid the numerous small
+ islands with which the river is interspersed, and which
+ otherwise might have embarrassed us very seriously. But though
+ we could perceive almost close to us several lamps burning in
+ comfortable-looking huts, and could plainly distinguish the
+ voices of their occupants, and though we exerted all our
+ strength to get at them, we were foiled in every attempt, by
+ reason of the sloughs and fens, and we were at last obliged to
+ abandon them in despair. Some of these lights, after leading us
+ a long way, eluded our search, and vanished from our sight like
+ an <i>ignis fatuus</i>, and others danced about we knew not
+ how. But what was more vexatious than all, after we had got
+ into an inlet, and toiled and tugged for a full half hour
+ against the current, which in this little
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page127"
+ name="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> channel was uncommonly
+ rapid, to approach a village from which we thought it
+ flowed, both village and lights seemed to sink into the
+ earth, the sound of the people's voices ceased of a sudden,
+ and when we fancied we were actually close to the spot, we
+ strained our eyes in vain to see a single hut,&mdash;all was
+ gloomy, dismal, cheerless, and solitary. It seemed the work
+ of enchantment; every thing was as visionary as "sceptres
+ grasped in sleep." We had paddled along the banks a distance
+ of not less than thirty miles, every inch of which we had
+ attentively examined, but not a bit of dry land could any
+ where be discovered which was firm enough to bear our
+ weight. Therefore, we resigned ourselves to circumstances,
+ and all of us having been refreshed with a little cold rice
+ and honey, and water from the stream, we permitted the canoe
+ to drift down with the current, for our men were too much
+ fatigued with the labours of the day to work any longer. But
+ here a fresh evil arose which we were unprepared to meet. An
+ incredible number of hippopotami arose very near us, and
+ came plashing, snorting, and plunging all round the canoe,
+ and placed us in imminent danger. Thinking to frighten them
+ off, we fired a shot or two at them, but the noise only
+ called up from the water and out of the fens, about as many
+ more of their unwieldy companions, and we were more closely
+ beset than before. Our people, who had never in all their
+ lives been exposed in a canoe to such huge and formidable
+ beasts, trembled with fear and apprehension, and absolutely
+ wept aloud; and their terror was not a little increased by
+ the dreadful peals of thunder which rattled over their
+ heads, and by the awful darkness which prevailed, broken at
+ intervals by flashes of lightning, whose powerful glare was
+ truly awful. Our people told us, that these formidable
+ animals frequently upset canoes in the river, when every one
+ in them was sure to perish. These came so close to us, that
+ we could reach them with the butt-end of a gun. When I fired
+ at the first, which I must have hit, every one of them came
+ to the surface of the water, and pursued us so fast over to
+ the north bank, that it was with the greatest difficulty
+ imaginable we could keep before them. Having fired a second
+ time, the report of my gun was followed by a loud roaring
+ noise, and we seemed to increase our distance from them.
+ There were two Bornou men among our crew who were not so
+ frightened as the rest, having seen some of these creatures
+ before on Lake Tchad, where, they say, there are plenty of
+ them. However, the terrible hippopotami did us no kind of
+ mischief whatever; they were only sporting and wallowing in
+ the river for their own amusement, no doubt, at first when
+ we interrupted them; but had they upset our canoe, we should
+ have paid dearly for it. We observed a bank on the north
+ side of the river shortly after this, and I proposed halting
+ on it for the night, for I wished much to put my foot on
+ firm land again. This, however, not one of the crew would
+ consent to, saying, that if the Gewo Roua, or water
+ elephant, did not kill them, the crocodiles certainly would
+ do so before the morning, and I thought afterwards that we
+ might have been carried off like the Cumbrie people on the
+ islands near Yaoorie, if we had tried the experiment. Our
+ canoe was only large enough to hold us all when sitting, so
+ that we had no chance of lying down. Had we been able to
+ muster up thirty thousand cowries at Rabba, we might have
+ purchased one which would have carried us all very
+ comfortably. A canoe of this sort would have served us for
+ living in entirely, we should have had no occasion to land
+ excepting to obtain our provisions; and having performed our
+ day's journey, might have anchored fearlessly at night.
+ Finding we could not induce our people to land, we agreed to
+ continue on all night. The eastern horizon became very dark,
+ and the lightning more and more vivid; indeed, I never
+ recollect having seen such strong fork lightning before in
+ my life. All this denoted the approach of a storm. At eleven
+ P.M. it blew somewhat stronger than a gale, and at midnight
+ the storm was at its height. The wind was so strong, that it
+ washed over the sides of the canoe several times, so that
+ she was in danger of filling. Driven about by the wind, our
+ frail little bark became unmanageable; but at length we got
+ near a bank, which in some measure protected us, and we were
+ fortunate enough to lay hold of a thorny tree against which
+ we were driven, and which was growing nearly in the centre
+ of the stream. Presently we fastened the canoe to its
+ branches, and wrapping our cloaks round our persons, for we
+ felt overpowered with fatigue, and with our legs projecting
+ half over the sides of the little vessel, which, for want of
+ room, we were compelled to do, we lay down to sleep. There
+ is something, I believe, in the nature of a tempest which is
+ favourable to slumber, at least so thought my brother; for
+ though the thunder continued to roar, and the wind to
+ blow,&mdash;though <span class="pagenum"><a id="page128"
+ name="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> the rain beat in our
+ faces, and our canoe lay rocking like a cradle, still he
+ slept soundly. The wind kept blowing hard from the eastward
+ till midnight, when it became calm. The rain then descended
+ in torrents, accompanied by thunder and lightning of the
+ most awful description. We lay in our canoe drenched with
+ water, and our little vessel was filling so fast, that two
+ people were obliged to be constantly baling out the water to
+ keep her afloat. The water-elephants, as the natives term
+ the hippopotami, frequently came snorting near us, but
+ fortunately did not touch our canoe. The storm continued
+ until three in the morning of the 17th, when it became
+ clear, and we saw the stars sparkling like gems over our
+ heads. Therefore, we again proceeded on our journey down the
+ river, there being sufficient light for us to see our way,
+ and two hours after, we put into a small, insignificant,
+ fishing village, called <i>Dacannie</i>, where we landed
+ very gladly. Before we arrived at this island, we had passed
+ a great many native towns and villages, but in consequence
+ of the early hour at which we were travelling, we considered
+ it would be imprudent to stop at any of them, as none of the
+ natives were out of their huts. Had we landed earlier, even
+ near one of these towns, we might have alarmed the
+ inhabitants, and been taken for a party of robbers; or, as
+ they are called in the country, <i>jacallees</i>. They would
+ have taken up arms against us, and we might have lost our
+ lives; so that for our safety we continued down the river,
+ although we had great desire to go on shore. In the course
+ of the day and night, we travelled, according to <i>our</i>
+ estimation, a distance little short of a hundred miles. Our
+ course was nearly east. The Niger in many places, and for a
+ considerable way, presented a very magnificent appearance,
+ and, we believe, to be nearly eight miles in
+ width.&mdash;<i>Lit. Gaz.</i></p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>The Gatherer.</h2>
+
+ <p><i>Ancient Trade</i>.&mdash;Alexandria was formerly the
+ chief commercial city in the world. We may judge of its wealth
+ and prosperity by the circumstance, that, after the defeat of
+ Queen Zenobia, a single merchant of this city, undertook to
+ raise and pay an army out of the profits of his trade. Delos
+ was the richest city in the Archipelago, it was a free port,
+ where nations warring with each other, resorted with their
+ goods, and traded. Strabo calls it one of the most frequented
+ emporiums in the world; and Pliny tells us, that all the
+ commodities of Europe and Asia were sold, purchased, or
+ exchanged there. Trade was much encouraged at Athens; and if
+ any one ridiculed it, he was liable to an action of slander. A
+ fine of a thousand drachmas (about &pound;37. 10s.) was
+ inflicted on him who accused a merchant of any crime which he
+ was unable to prove. Solon was engaged in merchandize; the
+ founder of the city of Messilia was a merchant; Thales and
+ Hippocrates, the mathematician, traded; Plato sold oil in
+ Egypt; Maximinus the Roman emperor, traded with the Goths in
+ the produce of his estate in Thracia; Vespasian farmed the
+ privies at Rome; and the Emperor Pertinax, originally dealt in
+ charcoal.</p>
+
+ <p>P.T.W.</p>
+
+ <p><i>Unnecessary fears about the Cholera.</i>&mdash;Nothing is
+ more calculated to allay unnecessay and groundless fear, in the
+ case of the cholera, than the undeniable fact of the smallness
+ of the mortality in proportion to the whole population, where
+ it has raged with most violence. In addition to which, if it be
+ borne in mind, that the disease invariably attacks those who
+ are most predisposed to engender any malady, it is not
+ unreasonable to infer, that of those to whom it has proved
+ mortal, many would have died within the same period, had
+ cholera not attacked them.&mdash;<i>Morning Herald.</i></p>
+
+ <p>King Regner died singing the pleasure of falling in battle:
+ his words are, "The hours of my life are passed away, I shall
+ die laughing."&mdash;<i>Britain's Historical Drama.</i></p>
+
+ <h4><i>On a very Fat Man.</i></h4>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>All flesh is grass, so do the Scriptures say,</p>
+
+ <p>And grass, when mown, is shortly turn'd to hay.</p>
+
+ <p>When Time, to mow you down, his scythe doth
+ take,</p>
+
+ <p>Good Man! how large a stack you then will make.</p>
+
+ <p class="i10">J.J.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h3>THE MIRROR.</h3>
+ <hr class="short" />
+
+ <p>Purchasers of the MIRROR who may wish to complete their Sets
+ or Volumes, are informed that the whole of the Numbers are now
+ in print, and can he procured by giving an order to any
+ Bookseller or Newsvender.</p>
+
+ <p>Complete Sets. Vol. I. to XVIII in boards, price &pound;4.
+ 18s. 6d.; half-bound, &pound;6. 6s.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote1"
+ name="footnote1"></a>
+<b>Footnote 1</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag1">
+ (return)</a>
+<p> The Gardens and Menagerie of the
+ Zoological Society delineated. Vol. I.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote2"
+ name="footnote2"></a>
+<b>Footnote 2</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag2">
+ (return)</a>
+<p> Chamfort observes, that the writers on
+ physics, natural history, physiology, and chemistry, have
+ been generally men of a mild, even, and happy temperament,
+ while the writers on politics, legislation, and even
+ morals, commonly exhibited a melancholy and fretful spirit.
+ It is to be expected that an inspection of the beauty and
+ order of nature should affect the mind with peculiar
+ pleasure.&mdash;<i>Gaieties and Gravities</i>.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote3"
+ name="footnote3"></a>
+<b>Footnote 3</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag3">
+ (return)</a>
+<p> It is a melancholy reflection to compare
+ the present state of the fishery with its prosperity in
+ 1579, or in more modern periods. Within the recollection of
+ the editor, there were 60 boats employed in catching
+ mackerel, and in a propitious season, that species of fish
+ has produced in Billingsgate market a sum of &pound;10,000,
+ with which the town was enriched. In the autumn, 20 of
+ these boats were fitted out for the herring voyage, and one
+ boat has been known to land during the season from 20 to 30
+ lasts of herrings, each last containing 10,000 fish,
+ computing 132 to the 100.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote4"
+ name="footnote4"></a>
+<b>Footnote 4</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag4">
+ (return)</a>
+<p> The families of Mighell and Wichelo are
+ all that appear to remain as of Spanish origin.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote5"
+ name="footnote5"></a>
+<b>Footnote 5</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a>
+<p> The kindness of a friend has enabled me to
+ supply this work, with a view of the town taken from the
+ sea in 1743, when the wall, Block house, and East gate were
+ partly standing.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote6"
+ name="footnote6"></a>
+<b>Footnote 6</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a>
+<p> The recent publications on the present
+ state of the town, will amply establish the prophecy of our
+ historian.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote">
+<a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a>
+<b>Footnote 7</b>:
+<a href="#footnotetag7">(return)</a>
+
+<p> There are 300 fishermen, 11 vessels, and 57 fishing boats belonging
+to this place.</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+
+ <p><i>Printed and published by J LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near
+ Somerset House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New
+ Market, Leipsic; G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin,
+ Paris; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i></p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11539 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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